Garment-pressing machine



' E. B.=LEARY v GARNER! PBESSING MACHINE Filed ma 5.1922 3 sheets-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Zawazdfiicazy.

GAHIENT PRESSING MACHINE 1 Filod'llay- 5. 1922 3 $heetS-Sheet 5.

INVENTOR.

ZiwardZZLm/y BY Patented Sept. '22; "1925.

LPATENT" OFFICE.

EDWARD B. LEARY, Q]? ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

GARMENT-PRESSING MACHINE.

Application filed m a,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD B. LEARY, a citizen of the United States of America, of

Rochester, in the county of Monroeand' State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment- Pressing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to laundry appliances, and more particularly to pressing machines, and it has for its ,object to provide 'a simple, convenient 'and inexpensive appliance of this kind that will be particularly useful in pressing garments such as suits of clothes, overcoats etc. The improvements are directed in part toward the relative arrangement and movements of the head and the buck whereby the operator is enabled to quickly place the garment in position and quickly remove it after it is pressed, and whereby the engagement of these parts is such as to produce uniform pressure. 0T0 these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

.In the drawings:

Figure .1 is a front view of a garment pressing machine constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 1s a central vertical sectional view taken in a plane from front to rear of the machine showing the parts in their normal or open positions;

Figure, 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the machine closed or in pressing position, and

Figure 4 is a detail section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. 1

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

In general my improved machine in its preferred form comprises a vertically swinging head that moves downwardly and forwardly to an operative position in which it is automatically locked and where it is thenengaged by a vertically reciprocatable buck on which the garment has been spread. The actuating means for the buck is adj ust- 1922. Serial No. 55am.

I able to various throw and a single operating garments from falling or hanging down into 1 the moving parts. Upwardly extending arms 4 at the rear support a shaft 5 uponwhich swings vertically a bell crank lever 6 that is double or yoke shaped so that a forward arm 7 of the bell crank isattached at each end of the head 8 carried thereby. This head 8 and its cooperating buck- 9 may be of any desired character. One or bothis usually padded and supplied with steam by which it is heated and moistened as is well known in the art, but this invention has nothing to do with these elements specifically and no steam connections'are herein shown. 5

A rearward arm 10 of the bell crank is connected bya link 11 pivoted thereto at 12 to an arm 13 of a bell crank lever 1 1 turning on a shaft 15 in the frame which arrangement will be seento constitute. a toggle adapted to operate the arm 7 and head 7 arm 16 of the bell crank l llis depressed.

The toggle ultimately engages a stop arm 17 on the frame which'halts it in a dead center posltion as shown in Figure3 and causes the head 8 not only to .move' to a definite operative position where'it is' held in v a manner hereinafter described, but to be locked there prepared resist considerable pressure.

'The operating means embodies a yoke shaped pull 'rod .18 adapted to, reciprocate vertically in a guidingcross rail 19'on the frame. Within the pull rod is 'a vertically sliding contact member; .20 having lateral In 21 by means. of which it is ided in slots 22 in the pull rod andalso-aving a stem 23 extending through the head of the latter and surrounded by a. coil spring 24: interposed between the head and the contact member 20 so that the latter 1s normally in the lowered position of Figure 2. .When the rod 18 is drawn downwardly the, contact member 20 engages the bell crank arm 16 which latter extends throu h the yoke .shaped rod and the spring 24 is of sufii'cient strength to cause the movement of the head 8 to operative position. This constitutes a lost motion connection between the operating mechanism and the head and its actuating devices because thereafter the pull rod 18 may continue downwardly relatively to the head actuating means because of the compression of the spring 24 as shown in Figure 3. The contact member 20 and its said spring are relieved of the function of holding the head 8 in operative position because of the dead center position. of the toggle 11-13 previously described. a

This lost motion connection is necessary in "the present instance because after the head 8 has assumed its operative position the buck 9 is raised into pressing contact with it and a continued downward movement of the pull rod 18is utilized to so actuate the buck. The latter is carried by a reciprocatory frame 25 guided in gibs 26 to slide vertically on the side standards of the frame 1 while a pair of rearwardly ex tending arms 33 on the yoke straddle or embrace the pull rod 18 (Figure 4) beneath lateral pins 34 on the latter that are adapted to engage them.

Thus on the downward movement of the pull rod 18 after the head 8 has been actuated to operative position the pins 34 engage the arm 33 of the yoke 31 and the buck 9 is raised into pressing contact with the head while the spring 24 is compressing and the contact member 20 remains stationary against the arm 16 of the head actuating mechanism. Themotion being transmitted through contact with the cams 28, these latter may be adjustedthrough the hand wheel 29 to extend or rdstrict the limit of upward movement of the buck and make the ultimate pressure greater or less as desired. The prime moverfor the operating means is apneumatic cylinder 35 supported in a central upright position at the base of the frame 1 by a bracket 36. ;'Compressed air is admitted through-a-.=5supply pipe 37 to a suitable two-way valve 38 having laterals 39 and 40 leading to ports 41 and 42 within the cylinder upon opposite sides of-a piston 43.' The piston rod 44 is connected to and forms a continuation of pull rod 18, and it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat o "by operating the valve 38 through pull rods 45 and 46 connected by a bell crank 47 compressed air may be ultimately admitted to opposite sides-of the piston 43 and cause the 'is up and the buck is down as in Figure 2 giving a wide degree of separation which is of great convenience to. the operator in spreading the garments to be pressed on the buck and the fact that the head swings upwardly and rearwardly increases theqconvenience in this'respect. It is further to be noted that although the head swings it does not swing into pressing contact but merely to a position ready to receive the buck which has a linear movement toward it and therefore engages it atall points simultaneously and with equal pressure.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a pressing machine, the combination with a swinging head and. a system. of levers for actuating the same to a definite position including a toggle movable to a dead center that locks the head in such positlon, of a reciprocatory buck movable against the head when so positioned, and

means for successively so operating the head and then the buck comprising a pull rod connected to the system of levers and a lever actuated by the pull rod and cooperating with the buck. a

2. In a pressing machine, the combination with a swinging head and a system of levers for actuating the same to a definite position including a toggle movable to a dead center that locks the head in such position, of a reciprocatbry buck movable against the head when so positioned, and means for successively so operating the head and then the buck comprising a pull rod connected to the system of levers, a lever actuated by the pull rod and cooperating with the buck and a pneumatic prime mover acting upon the pull rod in two directions.

3. In a pressing machine, the combination'witha frame, a re'ciprocatory buck and a swinging head cooperating therewith, of a operate the head said position of the, head while'the contact member is yielding. a I

;4; In a pressing machine, the combination with a vertically movable buck, a vertically swinging head adapted to cooperate therewith, means including a yielding contact elementfor operating the head to a definitza engaging position and locking it there, and actuating devices cooperating with said means to move the buck against the head durinIg the yielding of said contact element.

5. n a 'presing machine, a reciprocatable buck, a swinging head and means having a lost motion connection with the head for o erating it to a limit of movement toward t e buck and thereafter operating the buck to ward the head.

6. In a pressing machine, a reciprocatable buck, a swinging head, means having a lost vmotion connection with the head for operating it to a limit of movement toward the buck and thereafter operating the buck toward the head and means for automatically locking the head at such limit of movement.

7. In a pressing machine, the combination with a frame, a vertical] and rearwardly swinging head, a vertica 1y reciprocatable buck at the front of the frame, a vertically dis osed pull rod for successivel swinging t e head downwardly and li ing'the buck into pressing relationship with the head and-a vertically disposed pneumatic cylinder for operating thepulirod.

EDWARD B. LEARY. 

